Fossil Fuel

Tough gig: van Beurden took over at the helm of the oil giant on January 1

Shell boss Ben van Beurden declared that 2014 would be a year of “changing emphasis” as he unveiled a 71% dive in fourth-quarter profits, a new approach to business and suspended its controversial Arctic drilling programme

The collapse of BP's $7 billion (£4 billion) deal to sell its stake in South America's Pan American Energy could have been intentional on the part of the oil major, keen to secure a higher price, analysts said today.

BG Group, the exploration arm of the former British Gas empire, today posted a 4 percent rise in third-quarter earnings, beating forecasts, on higher commodity prices and production which grew 1 percent.

Turkmenistan-focused oil firm Dragon Oil said it was confident of maintaining its 10 to 15 percent target growth rate to 2015, putting it on track to produce 100,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd) in four years time.

There is something called the Misery index, and it says UK families are under the greatest pressure in 17 years from rising prices and unemployment - the worst in fact since the unwinding of the 1990s recession.

BP was today given the green light to press ahead with a new £4.5 billion exploration project west of the Shetland Islands, taking the oil major's development work in the North Sea to the highest level in its history.